HAMBURG - Japanese carmaker Nissan plans to introduce its luxury model Infiniti to Europe at the end of 2008, the head of the brand's European operations said Sunday, according to EarthTimes.org. Jim Wright told the car magazine Autmobilwoche that Infiniti was in the process of building up a distribution network for the brand after successful sales in the United States and Russia.

Wright said he did not anticipate high sales initially in the European luxury car segment dominated by Mercedes, BMW and Audi. In Germany, sales outlets were planned in 12 to 14 cities. By 2013 it was hoped that each Infiniti outlet in Western Europe would achieve a sales target of 500 vehicles per year.

In contrast, Wright said, Infiniti's three distributors in Russia had sold around 7,000 vehicles since 2006.